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Published: January 12th 2014
Natural Honey Roasted Peanut Butter
From my family. Too good for a sandwich, I take a spoonful a day. :)What can I say? Work runs my life here. There are still many projects ongoing, with minimal staff, particularly since this is the busy holiday season. But I've decided to make the best of the year and not let work get to me as much.
I took a nice long weekend to Dubai to "sleep" - yes, I have to leave the country to sleep!!! I had a nice flight into Dubai - purchasing e-gate is the best money I have ever, ever spent. Friday was a day of relaxation and going to the mall. This time, I went to Dubai Mall (my favorite is actually Mall of the Emirates) to do some major shopping. I saw a movie, bought some work clothes, met a friend for tea and crepes, shopped some more, had dinner at Red Lobster, then waited in a long taxi line next to some Russian guy who kept trying to cut in front of me and the woman in front of me. Oh no he didn't! I made eye contact with him, daring him to try... I had been in the mall for 8 hours - if you know me, you know malls are NOT my
A good dinner
Brown sugar glazed salmon, with grilled asparagus and zucchini favorite place, you know crowds are NOT my favorite place - so I was having none of it. Fortunately, he backed off and I got an awesome taxi driver who swooped beneath a VIP gate and we bypassed an insane line of traffic. Yes, the irony of cutting this line of waiting people is not lost on me....
Saturday, I returned to the Mall of the Emirates to take care of some errands and to try to find some boots. Seriously, I've been looking for black boots for months now and I cannot find ANYTHING that I like! Nothing! By the time I find "the ones" winter will be over.
Jamie returned a little after noon and we chatted until it was time to meet our soccer teammates for coffee and to meet Baby Enzo. It was so nice to see these amazing girls again and really makes me miss Dubai every time I do see them. Then we tried to get a taxi to Dubai Mall, but after waiting for a bit we wound up on a bus. Who knew where the bus was going so we got off and hiked to Sheikh Zayed Road, where we
opted out of the mall trip (thank you!) and settled on a place for dinner. Wagamama, like a Japanese cafeteria at the Crowne Plaza and I got some spicy Ramen noodle soup - sooooo good!
I was lazy / slowly working from home for the day, before making my way to our Dubai office, where I picked up the package my parents sent me. I got some delicious natural honey roasted peanut butter, Anchor Bar sauce, yogurt covered pretzels and raisins, dvd's, and some more small gifts to make me happy.
I enjoyed a beer and a baked potato at McGettigan's at the airport. As usual, I took the United flight to Doha and it always makes me smile to see such friendly faces. It is so open and friendly and the flight is never full.
This past weekend was nice and relaxing. I tried The Wholesale Market on Friday, foolishly thinking that going at 10am was the perfect time. This was when it opened and everyone else apparently has the same idea. There is a fresh fish market (oh and can you smell it!), which I may try next time. Then there are a couple of
open-air vegetable markets. I went into one walled in and wandered around. I seriously may wear an abaya next time because it is insanely uncomfortable to feel so many eyes just reaping you (minus the "e"), and I was completely covered in a full dress, sweater, and boots! But the selection was fantastic. I got a giant squash, bundle of green onions, bag of okra, and bag of dates all for about 20 riyals (about $6). The many books say to check out the Omani souq nearby and while I only accidentally found after I got in my car, I decided to check it out. I was not overly impressed and felt even more uncomfortable because it is in a less busy section. But I do imagine this is a real souq and not one of the touristy ones you typically see. Goods were piled high in obvious designated sections for the sellers, who specialize in certain items, and not overly organized. It's like Storage Wars. In both the souq and markets, you had the full haggling and shouting experience of a busy middle eastern market, which was a treat. A little overwhelming for a shy woman alone, but authentic.
Omani Souq
at least, I think it is... I think I will stick with the touristy ones though!
Now that more western expats have joined our team, as well as colleague companies, I have a life again! Slowly, but surely, I am getting there! We are starting a fugro soccer team, which I am SOOOO excited about, to be played at a nearby English community center, so girls can actually play. yay! We'll mostly just be playing against each other but maybe in a few months, we'll be able to join a league. I'm also planning a dinner with my group to an Arabic restaurant that "Tony" always took me to. I'd also like to start a weekly game night just to break the monotony and have a little fun.
Work continued over the week, just as difficult, stressful, and frustrating as before. Seriously, I don't know why one of our biggest clients has continued to torment us. We are actually performing very well; instead of averaging 8m a day, we average about 17. Yet still they blame us for their delay. I have had it with being called a "liar" and "cheat" in every meeting we've attended in the last six weeks. So, I have
decided to focus on our many other projects, with other clients who value our work and work with us instead of against us. They've been patiently (to varying degrees) waiting on a back burner while we tried to sort out the many issues with the difficult client. No more; it has become obvious this client is impossible to please, so let's please the clients that we can. We are not going to antagonize anyone or slack on the job, but I am no longer going to allow myself or my staff stress over unrealistic deadlines and expectations for this project, and especially not to the detriment of other projects/clients. Once I had made that decision, I felt a great weight lifted. So, while last week was particularly difficult, once I made the revelation this weekend, I forced myself to start the week off right. Of course, it didn't remotely go that way, but at least I am living by the credo "All you can do is the best you can."
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Doing the best you can
I would not do well being called a liar and a cheat. I hope that behavior comes to an end soon. We went in one of the malls when we were in Dubai because we'd been on the road for months and I wanted Papa John's pizza. It was yummy. I stopped in one of the stores for a nano second as I'm not a shopper and was shocked at the expensive prices. From your shopping and comments I assume all the stores are not expensive. Good luck with the new start.